


Hearth

by GoddessOfShitpost



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Sad, from laketown, happy at first, prince Thranduil, you're a human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 16:27:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10469301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoddessOfShitpost/pseuds/GoddessOfShitpost
Summary: Hearth /härTH/ n.used as a symbol of one's home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You are the daughter of a past mayor of Laketown. Set WAY before Smaug burning it down. I mean, duh. Also, it's around the time where Oropher's about to die.

You looked back to the distant, hazy silhouette of Laketown as you rowed the wooden boat through the still waters. It was quiet; the only sound being the soft splashing of waves caused by the motion of your oar. You looked ahead, seeing the lonely dock in the fog. You finally got away from him. That pretentious, selfish, corrupt- "Ugh!" You groaned in disgust at the memory of your father, the mayor. You remembered how he would force you to seduce potential business partners and how if you failed, he would starve you for days. What a pig. A creak of old wood against ancient wood awoke you from your thoughts. You stepped out of the boat, taking the medium-sized satchel with you. You also grabbed a dagger, the dagger that your old mentor got you as a gift. Too bad he got fired by your father too. You looked up into tall canopy of the forest. You knew of its dangers. Sure, you were never allowed outside Laketown but you somehow convinced your mentor to teach you secret lessons about the outside world. He knew you were sick of table manners and posture training; You miss him.

\---

It had been days since you had left the boat, and you still had no idea where you would go. You grew to love the forest. You practically lived in it. You even had made friends with some of the spiders. Even though it treated you like a home you know you would eventually go mad without human interaction. Maybe not human, but maybe something that aren't deer and terrifying spiders.

You were carrying water buckets to the hollow tree home you had created, when you heard the crunching of hooves against fallen leaves. (Y/N) hid behind a tree, the two buckets carefully placed where it could not be seen. My prince, it is getting quite late, we should head back. Mirkwood is a bit far from here." A voice called. "No." An emotionless voice answered. "There are signs of a camp. A recent one at that." He spoke with so much regality, the hidden girl almost wanted to kneel before him. "Search. Maybe it is a spy. Then report to father." Then you did something really stupid, and that's saying something. "Wait, please!" You revealed yourself, your hands in the air. Piercing blue eyes narrowed down at you from the white horse which he sat on. His back straighter than you could ever have sat, his hair glowed ethereally in the moonlight of the evening and his tunic even seemed to sing gleeful songs, thanking the Valar for being worn by the most graceful being you have ever seen. His hair seemed to sway like liquid as he circled around you. "Who are you?" He spoke calmly. "I am (Y/N) (L/N), daughter of the mayor of Laketown. I, I rebelled against my father and I'm staying in the forest. I'm not a spy, I promise you." You mustered all that you've learned in your speech sessions. It was hard to deny that he had an aura that demanded authority. But being the rebel that you are, you chose to ignore this authority. You held eye contact, although not enough to seem that you were staring. He looked taken aback for a fraction of second, however it was so quick you assumed it was your imagination. "You? Live in this spider-infested forest? And you're not even an elf." He chuckled. Anger boiled in your heart. "I'm sorry, your great _Highness_ ," Your words dripped of sarcasm. "Are you saying I can't handle myself?" You snapped. He glanced a confused look you. He wasn't used to people giving him attitude. "No, I was going to say that it's impressive; You're impressive. But if you say so..." He smirked. You felt your cheeks heat up, but fortunately, your hair covered up half of your face. "Oh," Was all that you could mutter out. He smiled tenderly at you. "Well? Get on my horse." He stated, as if it was the most obvious in the world. "What? Are you arresting me? I told you, I'm not a spy! And I'm not lying!" He raised an eyebrow up at you. "I don't think I should trust a rebel. Also, my father will have to decide whether it is the truth or not."

 

As it turns out, the King was a much more arrogant asshole than his son. So there you sat, on a stone cold 'bed' with nothing but the darkness of the cramped cell accompanying you. You awaited for any sign that King Oropher had finally contacted your father if it was indeed the truth. You hated the fact that your father would know where you are, but you also somehow knew he wouldn't fetch you. He wanted a son, after all. 

You perked up to the tapping of shoes against stone and stood up to see between the bars. It was Thranduil. You knew you shouldn't have reacted the way you did, seeing as he was the one who turned you in, but you welcomed his company anyway. "Is Oropher done yet? I'm famished and since you practically stripped me of all my things, I might die here because of starvation." You groaned, trying to ignore the loud pleas of your stomach. You turned your eyes away from the empty space where your satchel used to sit. He was taken aback, at least that's what it looked like. Then he smiled. "Only I, in this kingdom, has ever had the ability to call my father by his name. I applaud your confidence." He didn't really applaud, but he sat on a stone slab near your cell, almost as if he was gonna be there for a while; and that was worth more than a clap for you. You just hummed in response, not knowing what to say when he sat down. "I want you to know," He looked around, as if to check whether someone was eavesdropping on you. "That what I said earlier, it shouldn't have come out like that. I was going to say that I don't think I should've trusted a rebel... as much as I did." He finished, a little bit of emotion seeped out of the words. Before you could reply, he continued. "Because I do believe you. And I understand you probably don't want your father to know where you are. But I couldn't stop father, although I tried. However," He paused as if to see if you were still paying attention. And yes, you were, you were hanging on every word. Each one seemed more surprising than the last. "I managed to convince him to keep you as a servant. That way, he couldn't make you go with your father." He finished, and your chin might as well have touched the far from how wide your mouth stretched in shock. "You," You started, finally remembering what your lungs were. "Did," However, it's kind of fuzzy _how_ you made them work. "That for me?" Ah, there we go. His eyes flashed amusement, obviously astonished that he managed to tear apart your sassy facade. "So, before I start questioning if I did the wrong thing, tell me how horrible your _ada_ is and we can compare notes."

So you did. You talked for what seemed like hours. You found out his father was quite controlling, strict and merciless. He retold the story of how one time, when he was a few decades old, his friend almost got imprisoned for 'endangering' Thranduil. Truthfully, he was only trying to get a tree in the forest when Thranduil followed, falling by a few feet. He also said that though his father loved the trading relations between men and elves, he only trusted the mayor and regarded to the rest of the Laketown townsmen as unimportant and servants, which is why he found it hard to just let you off. 

"Prince Thranduil," A gruff, professional voice came from a hidden side of your limited view. Thranduil stood up, face stoic and cold again, just like when you first met. It's almost as if his little smile lines and happy wrinkles from your past conversation were nothing but delusions. "The king wanted you to offer your opinion about her sentence, but seeing as you are already here..." He came up to the prince before whispering incoherently. A flash of delight shone through his emotionless exterior, which told you much more than you needed to know. "Of course, yes. Tell my father I allow it." His tone was without meaning or feeling. But the way his head turned back to you, almost initiating an embrace before realizing the bars between you; it confirmed your suspicions. 

"He allowed you to become my servant."


	2. Chapter 2

Everything went wrong. 

Thranduil fell for you, in every single way. You returned the feelings, but you knew it was unethical. Unsurprisingly, he was insistent and eventually, you agreed to his pleas. You had affairs. You made sure no one knew, heard or saw. It wasn't very sexual. You had a deep connection and you loved him as much as he loved you. But for some reason, and maybe your constant feeling of eyes looking at you from the shadows had something to do with it, the king found out and banished you. Thranduil pleaded with him, even begged to his father, but to no avail.

So you were forced to flee. To somewhere, to nowhere, you did not know. He banished you out of all of Mirkwood. You traveled everywhere, but you knew only the forest would ever accept you.

Now, almost 70 years from your encounter with Thranduil, leaning on the same tree you hid behind, you lay dying. Spiders and all forest animals gathered around you, mourning the impending loss of the only creature to ever befriend them all. You smiled. You had lived life. You had loved royalty. And you were happy. Your laugh was like an old door creaking in the wind. Thranduil would've looked nearly the same, maybe a little older. Hell, maybe he was married now.

As your memories of Thranduil passed, you breathed your last breath and finally, closed your eyes.

 

Thranduil felt horrible, anguished and disturbed all at once in a horrible shiver as he sat upright in his throne. The lady who stood beside him noticed and put a tender hand to his shoulder. "What is wrong, meleth nin?" His queen asked, her elegant eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Something. Something is horribly wrong."

Later that evening, when his faithful wife was asleep he walked to the forest, his simple white robes were bathed in the moonlight. He stepped one foot into the forest and cold air rushed against his face and hair. And for some reason, it was as if it was talking to him. 'You're going here unguarded? You were stupid as a prince but wow...' It said. He chuckled, but then he realised, he wasn't just imagining this, was he? "(Name)?" He asked, looking up into nothing but the moonlight making the leaves glow ethereally. The wind blew again, softer this time, and right after her name, as if on cue. He smiled. "Where are you?" Silence answered him. No wind blew. Absolute quiet. Everything, still.

She was gone. She was nowhere. 

He was devastated.

"You're..." He couldn't finish when another gust of wind came. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I couldn't keep you from being banished. I'm sorry.. So sorry." He broke down, just like when you used to serve him and he would show you the marks his father left him when he tried to rebel. The leaves shook and the branches swayed in understanding and forgiveness. It wasn't his fault. It never was. 

In way, you never got separated from each other. You never had a true home. You loved the forest, sure. But it never really gave you comfort.

But he did.

And after all, home is where the heart is, right?


End file.
